The images of Vinod Khanna haunted Samina throughout the day and by the end of the day, she felt a heart-wrenching pain. It was unbearable and she found tears rolling down her cheeks. Huddled in cars with cousins and friends, she remembered going to see films like Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri, Amar Akbar Anthony and drool over Vinod Khanna in the role of an inspector or a villain. He was accepted in all roles. His gait and swagger, his hairstyle set him apart. So did his fashionable clothes of big collars and broad bell bottoms. Here’s a tribute by the author to her teenage crush, exclusively in Different Truths.

Overwhelming reaction of people from the film fraternity expressing what a genuine, sober, and loving human being Vinod Khanna was, speaks volumes about this handsome star. Friends, colleagues, and contemporaries were at his funeral to give a befitting tribute to their beloved departed, whose death had left a huge vacuum in the film industry and in their lives.

The images of Vinod Khanna haunted me throughout the day and by the end of the day, I felt a heart-wrenching pain. It was unbearable and I found tears rolling down my cheeks, with my husband amused at my reaction. I myself was taken aback!

Sitting in the solitude of my room, scenes from Vinod Khanna’s films started flashing again and with them came flashes of the teenage days when we were doing everything to stay updated with fashion, music, and everything that meant to make us the coolest teenager around. The technology was not so advanced and our exposure to fashions, our standard of good looks was only through the Mills and Boon and the films we saw, whether Hollywood or Bollywood. All attributes which define a man to be hot or cool were what we saw on screen, romance was synonymous with Rajesh Khanna, tall, dark and handsome with Amitabh Bachchan, and broad and brawny yet vulnerable and strikingly good looking was Vinod Khanna. Huddled in cars with cousins and friends, I remember going to see films like Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri, Amar Akbar Anthony and drool over Vinod Khanna in the role of an inspector or a villain. He was accepted in all roles. His gait and swagger, his hairstyle set him apart. So did his fashionable clothes of big collars and broad bell bottoms.

I was engulfed in nostalgia. With Vinod Khanna’s death, it seemed as if a beautiful part of my teenage years, which I had held so possessively had been snatched away from me. Film stars lived in our lives. The dialogues became our language and the songs of their films were synonymous with the characters. Jab koi baat bigar jaayeseemed so appropriate coming from Vinod Khanna and so did Ruk jana nahin tu kahin haar ke….

Be it the Amar of Amar Akbar Anthony or even Amar of Qurbani, his role is so clearly etched in our mind even today. Be it a role of a villain or that of a romantic hero, an intense role in Achanak, and a profound professor in Imtihaan, Vinod Khanna just set his own pace, style and standards and we as Bollywood obsessed teenagers were aping everything from our idols.

As I accept death as the ultimate truth and the finality of all things, I realise that one has to be strong enough to accept this reality and understand that the risk of loving is losing!

©Samina Naqvi

Photos from the internet.

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Samina Naqvi

Samina Naqvi, educator, teacher trainer and motivator, uses education as an instrument for change. She believes in adventure, romance and living life to the fullest. Watches and analyses films, understands people's perception. Loves to travel, read, and meet people from different sociocultural backgrounds, integrating communities. She is free spirited and enjoys her freedom to live life on her terms. She also believes that the youth today needs to be guided to create a better tomorrow.

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